Douglas Bain MacKenzie

Douglas Bain MacKenzie, born July 17, 1966, died in his sleep of natural causes on July 19, 2024, two days after his 58th birthday, and on his father's 94th.

Doug spent multiple childhood summers at the northern Adirondack wilderness camp, Tanager Lodge, learning Native American lore and survival and mountaineering skills. As a teenager in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Doug joined crews that packed all supplies (including food, flour, and water) miles up to the Appalachian Mountain Club mountain huts, cooking for hikers journeying along the AMC trails, and entertaining them at night with music and stories. He shared a deep love of the woods, mountains and wild spaces with his daughter, Julia, from a young age. Doug loved whitewater kayaking, learned falconry in Boise, ID, and once had a conversation with a bald eagle who approached him curiously by an Alaskan river.

Doug graduated from St. Albans School in Washington, DC, in 1984, then attended Wesleyan University, in Middletown, CT, studying the South Indian Classical music tradition (Carnatic), principally the mrdangam. He nursed and attended his beloved teacher T. Ranganathan (Ranga) during a long illness, and was with him when he died. Ranga sent Doug to Madras (Chennai), India, for his junior year to pursue mrdangam with the prodigy and mrdangam master Karaikudi R. Mani, who became a life-long friend and mentor, and whom Doug helped to bring to the states for a concert tour in 2008. After his graduation from Wesleyan, a Ford Foundation grant took him back to Madras for re-immersion in mrdangam, singing and solkattu, the recitation of rhythmic and tonal syllables. He continued the practice and performance of multiple instruments for decades, in concert and collaboration with other musical traditions, until his death.

Returning stateside, Doug began coursework to develop a movement therapy profession, combining Body-Mind Centering (bodymindcentering.com), an integrated and embodied approach to movement, the body and consciousness, and non-invasive craniosacral therapy principles to heal and provide pain relief to clients and friends of all ages. During his 12 years as a movement therapist at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, he developed BrilliantBody.net, and a following of many A-listers. He travelled the country to help dancers and actors move better and recover from injury and illness. Among his passions were working with children stilted in their development and aiding friends and clients manage life changes, injury and pain.

Doug is survived by his delightful daughter, Julia June Adams MacKenzie, of Seattle, WA; his father John P. MacKenzie, of Lenox, MA; his mother Amanda MacKenzie-Hobart (Larry Hobart) of Washington, DC; his brother Bradley John MacKenzie (Andrea K. Flynn) of Sanibel, FL; his sister Alice Fisk MacKenzie of Ridgewood, Queens; and his nephew Grayson Bradley MacKenzie of Boston, MA. He was widely and well loved by family, friends, musicians, dancers, therapists and colleagues around the country.

Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, BMC founder and teacher, and a decades-long friend of Doug, remembers him as "always excited about something," a "mobile practitioner," and noted the constant elements of curiosity and humor in his focused gift for healing.

Doug's friend of 40 years, Billy Wolf, contributes that "all who were graced by his presence can attest that Doug both lived and breathed the very essence of sound and vibration as a healing force in this world."

We are all extremely grateful for any contributions on Doug's behalf to Julia's education fund: gift.my529.org/JDSV4Q

Memorials will be held in Washington, DC, on Saturday, September 7; Williamsburg, MA, on Sunday, October 13; and Berkeley, CA, on Sunday, November 10. Everyone is invited to attend in-person or by Zoom.

His daughter Julia said he wanted to be a tree, and the terramation process has begun. Long live Doug the Heartnut tree!